Musicals are FUN - especially at Christmas

Tuesday, November 12, 2019 by Kirsty Procter | Uncategorized

Howdy Yal!!!!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to let you know I am one of the lead roles in Cowboy Christmas, here at our local Riverlea Theatre; and want to invite you to get some friends, workmates or family together to join us as we see out the year. 

The opportunity to get back on stage after a few years break is very exciting, and I am working with some very talented people which is inspiring. 

The Christmas Show this year is both buffet dinner and show for $79 - which is a fantastic deal! The Christmas shows at Riverlea are also significant fundraisers for the theatre as well; which I am proud to support!! 

This show features classic songs we all know and love; fantastic dances including the saloon girl cancan and a comedic, and at times slightly riskee, story line tying everything together. It's a transverse stage as well so the audience surround the action, which is super cool for you and super hard for us as a cast. Grab your tickets from www.iticket.co.nz - ye-haw !!!!

Singing Concert: Mid-Year 2019

Thursday, June 27, 2019 by Kirsty Procter | Uncategorized

Hey everyone

Just to confirm our mid-year concert is next Thursday at Nivara Lounge. Everybody has been working on songs in preparation and I look forward to catching up with you all again. 

Details: 

Time: 5.30pm-7.30pm

Venue: Nivara Lounge, Basement 266 Victoria Street, Hamilton

Food: Please feel free to BYO dinner down, drinks however are over the bar. 

Venue hire: $5 per person (apart from singers) this cover the cost of sound operator and venue fee (sorry I know it has gone up a little)

Date: 4 July 2019

 All Welcome. 

See you soon: Kirsty 

Mumble mumble - say what?

Thursday, May 16, 2019 by Kirsty Procter | Technique

New Zealanders! I'm sure we are not alone in the world, but most of us are extremely bad at articulating. I might get in trouble for saying this, but my husband talks without moving his bottom jaw at all - how he is intelligible while speaking like this is a skill in it's own right, and quite simply beyond me.

Because of our rampant misuse of articulation, this is often one of the first key skills our singers learn: "are your lips moving forward on your R's and W's and Ou's?;" "Is your jaw dropping when you sing Ahh and Aye?"; "is your tongue performing that L?"; "is your TH a TH or a F?"

And it's not just about me churning out a whole host of well spoken citizens. For singers, how we articulate impacts on two key areas: can anyone actually understand what we are singing; and if you aren't moving your mouth appropriately, your mispronunciation is going to manifest in TENSION.

TENSION!?! The T word is the enemy of singers world wide and it shoots dead free, relaxed and liberated singing tone everywhere.

Do you sound Nasal? You probably need to change your articulation. Do you mumble? You definitely need to change your articulation. Does your jaw tense while singing? You probably need to change your articulation. Unless you're Bob Dylan. If you're Bob Dylan you can sing with a sock in your mouth and I won't say a word.   

Here is a little exercise to get you started. Repeat Red Letter, Yellow Letter over and over. Your lips move forward to kissing position on R and OW, and slightly forward on the er's. You will feel your tongue moving on the L's. On your Yell-ow you should feel your relaxed jaw lower as you say 'OW' at the same time as your lips come forward. Try it in slow motion at first, feel the movement and then gradually speed up.

Happy articulating.

Love - Kirsty